Artist Spotlight: Romy Keegan

This week’s spotlighted artist is the owner and director of Maple Street Dance Space, Romy Keegan, and we are so excited to be able to share her story with you!

ABQ Dance Connect started an Artist Spotlight Series to feature dancers, movers, and creators in Albuquerque. This series is aimed to introduce and connect artists to their ABQ community. If you are interested in being a part of this series, please email info@abqdanceconnect.org or DM ABQ Dance Connect for more information. Look back at the artists who were featured last year.

Romy Keegan is a third generation dancer and the owner and director of Maple Street Dance Space, now in its 18th year! Local to Albuquerque she has studied, taught, choreographed, collaborated and danced all over the City and surrounding areas for nearly three decades. She has been fortunate to study with, work with, and perform with a wide variety of amazing teachers, talented musicians, singers, and ensembles, as well as excellent organizations, studios, camps and programs along the way.

Drawing on a lifetime of ballet training and 25+ years of West African dance, in 2012, Romy began developing and teaching Ballet-Afrique Contemporary, an original movement technique blending bold beautiful West African movement with the strength and grace of ballet. She joyfully continues to teach, choreograph and perform her movement technique alongside her newest project, Dancing Our Magick. This endeavor aims to awaken and integrate uplifting, transformative and empowered visions for ourselves and the world(s) around us, through seasonal workshops and ritual performance pieces choreographed with prayerful, magickal intention. A sample of this playful continuing work can be seen in “For Asherah With Love”, recently presented as part of the ADC Winter Choreographer's Showcase.

“I am so grateful to meet, work with, and provide space and support for independent artists and instructors of all kinds, and to get to create and teach, myself, joyfully sharing the healing, trans-formative power of dance with dancers of all ages and experience levels – especially the inner child found dreaming, playing and sometimes hiding, inside busy, bustling adults! As studio owner and creative, I celebrate the strength, grace and confidence gained through the practice and self expression of dance, particularly as it relates to community, a sense of belonging, diversity, and ultimately, unity…through dance.”